Students dig into New Windsor's history

Nails, glass, pottery and even bones — animal bones — were part of the treasure students unearthed during an archaeology camp in New Windsor July 21-25 sponsored by Carroll County Public Schools and the New Windsor Heritage Committee.

Lisa Macurak, a sixth-grade social studies teacher at New Windsor Middle School, leads the camp and sees it as an extension of what she offers to her students during the school year.

"I teach a little archaeology unit in the sixth grade," she said, to get the students ready for a unit on ancient civilizations.

Students interested in learning more about archaeology and putting it in practice can take part in the New Windsor Archaeology Club, where Macurak leads the students on archeological digs two Saturdays per month in the town-owned historical springhouse, which was originally part of town founder Isaac Atlee's property, located off Water Street.

The club also offers many dig opportunities throughout the summer, with the highlight being "Dig Week" in July, where students can take part in five days straight of archeological work. However, July 24's dig was canceled due to rain.

When working at the springhouse, the students have to remove about 50 10-gallon buckets of water to be able to clear out the spring and search in the mud under the spring. The site can be quite messy, Macurak said, and the depth of the items they find can't be tracked as well as they would like.

During Dig Week camp, students participated in a search for historic items at the springhouse July 25, and had fun cooling off in the spring, even if it wasn't such a successful dig day, Macurak said. The previous Friday, July 18, however, the students had some great finds at the springhouse, including clay smoking pipes and a tin or pewter child's cup.

On July 21, 22 and 23, the participants were at a new site — a first for Dig Week — at the town's historic Dielman Inn, at the intersection of Main and High streets.

New Windsor Heritage Committee member E.A. Stonesifer, daughter of the inn's last occupant, Julia Roop Cairns, had described to Macurak two locations within the property's yard where a separate kitchen had stood and where there had been an art studio area. Macurak set up a dig site at what she believed were the two recommended locations, gridding off square plots for children to work in alone or in pairs so that the materials found in each section could be tracked.

Stonesifer visited the property on July 23 to see how the dig was going, Macurak said, and informed them that the area where the students thought they were digging as the kitchen was actually where the "last six-seater in New Windsor" had stood — the outhouse. Macurak said they got a laugh out of it, but didn't mind since the students were finding so many objects there.

Nickolas Mertz, 11, said that he had found bones, nails, glass, pottery and the top of a pot in the area that turned out to be the outhouse.

"I'm into a lot of archaeology," he said, noting that his interest was sparked at a camp about dinosaurs that he previously attended at Carroll Community College.

Emma Buzby, 10, said her favorite part of the process is the digging.

"We found a piece of plate, so we were digging for more," she said.

She and fellow camper Cristina Torres, 11, ended up finding adjoining pieces of plate, stamped with a seal that read "Ironstone China," "Powell & Bishop," and the word "England" printed underneath it. After finding the first two pieces, it felt like another piece could be under every rock, Emma said.

During a lunch break July 22, Macurak informed the campers that a quick Internet search had revealed that the seal on the plate belonged to the company Powell & Bishop and was most likely made between 1867 and 1878. The students' faces lit up with excitement over their discovery.

After the students do the digging — or filling up a bucket with dirt from their corded-off plot — they dump the dirt into a sifter to separate the dirt from any household items that might have been buried within. Some of the students specialize in sifting.

"I just like sifting and finding stuff in the dirt, because you never really know what you're going to find in there," said Trevor Munk, 12.

Some of the treasures found during Dig Week included the china, pottery and clay marbles found at the Dielman Inn, Macurak said.

But not every session is filled with such exciting discoveries, said Amber Legore, 13. "Patience and perseverance is all I have to say about digging," she said. "This has taught me how to be patient and how to wait."

We've upgraded our reader commenting system. You must register to comment on stories. Accounts on the old Carroll County Times website no longer work, so you'll need to sign up for a new account. Learn more about the new features.

The Carroll County Times encourages civil dialogue related to our stories; you must register and log-in to our site in order to participate. We reserve the right to remove any user and to delete comments that violate our Terms of Service. By commenting, you agree to these terms. Please flag inappropriate comments.